Asphalt oxidation system



March 3, 1936, c. P. McNE| L El AL 2,032,546

ASPHALT OXIDATION SYSTEM Filed Jan. 2, 1950 ll l 75 Storage 75 Sewer Pipe Steam Inlet Outlet .ALrlnleiz.

' Rvfnzia'om Imam rs Claude P U C- JViZ- Samuel 0 L kfifionyomey '"rive'utiou d economical process g hot "rel-euro further object lo to provide datiori system which includes ste for eliminating the nuisance ct di agree odors for recovering oil distillates iii effective manner.

A iurther object is to provide a steady perature. in batch stills the temperature scr etiihes shoots up so rapidly that the contents 3 the still must be run to cooler. Such tioe is economically wasteful in heat, e21 meat, in and labor. Th inventors maintains a constant temperature in add. withdrawing small amounts of residi and asphalt respectively a large vole action mixture held at a giVSll thereby overcoming all the hatch still.

A further apparatus particularly perature, the disadvantages to provide ire r veo. adapted for the Other ohiec description of the iiveritioh Briefly on may be oh a a oont uous system wherein a large body oi petroleum residuum is blown with regulated quantities Off air, su plemented if necessary by steam, the hot residuum being constantly red in a small stream into the body and the clown asphalt being constantly removed therefrom, gaseous products of the oxidation being treated in a steam boat. The steam boat is a tower whose upper portion is haified, whose central portion is relatively open, and whose lower portion is a separating chamber for oil and water. A ieature or this device is the means for skimming oil from a surface of the mixture in the bottom oi the tower by adjusting a weir in the water outlet. The invention will be more clearly understood from the detailed description which follows.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention Figure l is an elevation partly in section of the improved apparatus.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the still, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan and elevation of the weir box which regulates the amount of oil skimmed from the oil-water mixture in the steam boat.

Referring to Fig. 1, a small stream of the hot residuum from the flash tower of a pipe still unit vent clogging Us. coking. The Mr supplied. the about saooo ou iu per hour a though this may he var lillli il to ,ooo cubic feet per hour de uoon the temperature, the rate i residuum, nature oi the residuum, desired stiles to be attained. T action ta ore the large hotly oi ii to see t is eoritiuuouslv (loved oi the still by a p s asphalt through suitable taults or containers (out a point IIEQW which r he introduced wit amounts about loco eratures, a blanket of is erahly maintained over the surface of the mix" ture, such steam oeiiig lZlZ'O illCGCi through pipe valve arid nozzle Although the volatile components oi petroleum are supposedly removed from the residuum loofore it enters still 112, gaseous products result from the blowing process. lhese gaseous products are conducted together with unused air and steam through baffle dome and vapor conduit to steam boat The steam boat is preferably an open top tower, 6 to is feet in diameter and 29 to 30 feet tall. Water is supplied near the top of the tower through a pipe which discharges the water on perforated baiile plates 25. Instead of perforated plates other conventional means, such as disc and doughnut plates, bubble plates, screens, etc., may be used. When perforated plates are used with relatively small amounts of water, it is good practies to provide a distributor above the top plate. The water leaving the lowermost baffle plate is directed by a bafile or feed spout it into a hopper or funnel 2?, which has a. downwardly extending portion 28 terminating under the surface of the oil-water mixture 29 in the base of the tower. By feeding the oil and water through the downwardly extending portion of 23 of tunnel El,

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it is introduced into the lower part of the mixture so that the surface thereof is quiescent. This makes it possible to skim oil from the surface without obtaining appreciable amounts of water. Vapors from conduit 22 enter the tower between the oil-water mixture 29 and pouring spout 26. Some oil particles arecollected on the bottom of funnel 21 and fall immediately to the top of the oil-water mixture. The remaining vapors are forced into contact with incoming water by countercurrent scrubbing through baflle plates 25, so that the gases are stripped of all condensible and soluble constituents. The gases discharged into the air are not noticeable or objectionable and the oil and reaction products are separated from the water as hereinafter described.

As the oil-water mixture gradually separates in the base of the tower, the oil-soluble compounds and materials lighter than water are skimmed from the surface of this mixture over a weir 30 and are removed by a pipe 3| to a gutter 32 which conveys them to a storage tank.

The water is removed from the basev of the tower by a pipe 33 which extends upwardly and terminates in an open chamber 34, which communicates with open chamber 35 by means of an adjustable weir 36, the open receptacle 35 discharging through pipe 31 into gutter 38 which conveys the water to a sewer.

The normal elevation of weir 36' is slightly below weir 30 and the level of the oil-water mixture in the tower 23 may be regulated by raising'or lowering weir 36. If water is removed through pipe 3 I, weir 36 is lowered and if the flow through pipe 3| ceases, weir 36 is raised. By this means the oil is skimmed from the mixture together with oil soluble and other light products resulting from the oxidation.

To insure the complete oxidation of every particle of residuum, we prefer to use bafiles as shown in Fig. 2. The residuum must flow under bafile 38 through opening 39 and then over baffle 40. This effectively prevents short circuiting and therefore produces a more uniform product.

The operation of the invention has been de-' scribed along with the description of the apparatus and no further description is deemed necessary. It should be emphasized, however, that the use of a large body of oil and continuous inflow and outflow of small streams provides a stabilization and efficiency which has been heretofore unknown, and it also results in a uniform product of excellent characteristics.

It is well known, of course, that when the reaction has been initiated, no heat will be ordinarily required from furnace I4. The temperature may be regulated by varying the rate of feeding residuum and/or air to the still and/or the temperature of the feed. It is understood that conduits, stills and tanks filled with hot liquids should be suitably insulated. The shape of the still is immaterial, and it may be heated by a fire in furnace I4 or by suitable heating coils (not shown) when, for any reason, the temperature gets too low.

Various means may be used to maintain the liquid level in the still; in some cases a gravity overflow has been used and in others a pump con tolled by a float.

Many modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and we do not limit ourselves to the details of our preferred embodiment except as defined by the following claims:

1. In the process of continuously oxidizing'petroleum residuum to form blown asphalt of desired penetration and melting point, the steps comprising maintaining a large body of petroleum residuum in an horizontally elongated oxidation zone, continuously adding liquid residuum at about one end of said zone, blowing said residuum with an oxidizing gas, causing substantially all of said residuum to pass through the lower portion of said body of residuum at an intermediate point in its travel through said zone, causing said residuum to pass near the top of said body' of residuum at another intermediate point in its passage through said zone, continuously removing the blown asphalt formed from said residuum from about the opposite end of said zone, whereby short circuiting is minimized,

and removing gases and vapors from said zone.

2. In the process of continuously oxidizing petroleum residuum to form blown asphalt of desired penetration and melting point, the steps comprising maintaining a large body of petroleum residuum in an horizontally elongated oxidation zone, continuously adding liquid residuum at about one end of said zone, blowing said residuum with an oxidizing gas introduced near the bottom of said zone, causing substantially all of said residuum to pass through the lower portion of said body of residuum at an intermediate 0 point in its travel through said zone, continuously removing the blown asphalt formed from said residuum from about the opposite end of said zone, whereby short circuiting is minimized, and removing gases and vapors from said zone.

3. Apparatus for continuously oxidizing petroleum residuum to form blown asphalt of desired penetration and melting point, comprising an horizontally elongated chamber, means for continuously adding residuum at about one end of said chamber, means for withdrawing blown asphalt from about the opposite end of said chamber, means for forcing substantially all of said residuum to about the bottom of said chamber at an intermediate point in its travel through said chamber, means for forcing substantially all of said residuum into an elevated portion of said chamber at another intermediate point in its travel through said chamber, means for introducing an oxidizing gas into the lower part of said chamber, and means for removing gases and vapors from said chamber.

4. In the process of continuously oxidizing petroleum residuum to form blown asphalt of desired penetration and melting point, the steps comprising maintaining a large body of petroleum residuum in an elongated oxidation zone,

adding liquid residuum at about one end of said zone at a rate of about one-tenth of the volume 'of residuum per hour, blowing said residuum with an oxidizing gas, causing substantially all of said residuum to pass to the bottom of said body of residuum at an intermediate point in its travel through said zone, causing substantially all of said residuum to pass through the top of said body of residuum at another intermediate point 

